The Frazetta Portfolio 1993

The Frazetta Portfolio 1993 was published by Kitchen Sink Press and contained full-colour illustrated plates by one of the masters of fantasy art, Frank Frazetta.

Also included was a black and white inlay promoting the Frazetta Pillow Book.

Released to promote the Frank Frazetta Pillow Book, an 80-page soft cover volume also published by Kitchen Sink, this portfolio featured six 8½ x 11 inch plates taken from that publication. However, Frazetta fans who purchased this portfolio expecting examples of the artist’s trademark heroic fantasy work would have been disappointed (I know I was) as this collection featured some of the artist’s little seen nude study’s. Each plate depicts a female nude interacting with either a small pixie-type creature or with an animal, and Frazetta’s art style is humorous, almost cartoony.

The plates shipped in a fold-out cardboard wallet and sold for $25; also included was a black and white inlay that promoted the upcoming release of the Pillow Book. Despite being printed on card stock the actual reproduction quality of the plates isn’t particularly high, and the prints themselves are on the small size. And I’m not quite sure what prospective purchaser’s were expected to do with the prints… frame them? They’re not of a high enough quality for that and besides, who’d want a collection of nudie cartoons on the their wall?

The back cover to the portfolio.

Over the years I’ve amassed a large collection of portfolios — many of them already appear on Taint the Meat (click here) — but I’ll confess that The Frazetta Portfolio 1993 is not one of my favourites. Although I’m a big fan of Frazetta’s work — again, there’s plenty of it on this site — I originally purchased this collection (way back when it was first released) partly because I was a fan of the artist, and partly out of curiosity as the set was sealed and I couldn’t actually see the plates. After I purchased the portfolio (for £20 if memory serves) and opened it I was quite disappointed. The only painting I liked was Plate 3 — the one that shows a women with a leopard — as it’s the only print that looked like a traditional Frazetta painting, the others being a bit too cheesy for my taste. The Frazetta Portfolio 1993 isn’t awful, it just wasn’t what I was expecting and it really hasn’t aged well with time. (To be honest I’m only really including here because I’m a completist).

Anyway, judge for yourself: below are all six plates from The Frazetta Portfolio 1993. PLEASE NOTE: all six plates feature depictions of female nudity.